Vital Churches: Elder Responsibility for Their Pastors and Congregational Planning

By Wendell McBurney

“If we pay the minister that much, it won't be a calling any more. It will be a profession.”
That comment, which I heard during a discussion on the minister's salary in a congregational meeting, encapsulates the attitudes of many Christians, namely that professional standards ought not to apply in the church. The comment expresses more than the infamous prayer: "Lord, you keep him humble and we'll keep him poor." It reflects the attitude that what applies as good practice in the "real" or natural world, does not apply in the spiritual world. Careful analysis, good planning, and diligent follow-through are at odds with trusting the Lord.
The tendency to contrast decision-making in the natural world with that in the church is what Dr. Wendell McBurney confronts in this very helpful book. But he moves beyond simply challenging this form of thinking to showing congregations and particularly elders how they can go about good, effective planning, particularly for the personal and professional lives of ministers. And I do not know anyone who could do a better job of writing such a book than Wendell McBurney.

— W. Robert GodfreyChairman of The Board, Ligonier Ministries President Emeritus, Westminster Seminary California

• Language: English
• Publisher: Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals
• Release date: Oct 1, 2020

Book preview

Endorsements

Dr. McBurney’s passion for the equipping of elders in support of their pastors shines throughout this book. The importance and the gravity of planning is limned. In Vital Churches , you will find wisdom and encouragement that will profit all ruling and teaching elders. I was challenged and convicted.

L. Edgar Barnhill III, Esq ., Ruling Elder, First Presbyterian Church of Coral Springs, Florida.

Vital Churches is a valuable guide for elders as they care for their pastors. I am encouraged to see a chapter on the unique expectations and needs of the pastor’s wife and family. The examples of challenges that a pastor’s wife faces are thoughtfully presented and accurate.  Each is accompanied by practical suggestions for elders and congregations as they support and encourage their pastors.  This book presents many helpful action steps that can be taken on behalf of pastors and their families.

Mrs. Catherine Metzger , pastor’s wife and mother of four children, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 

In this gem of a book, Wendell McBurney brings to the forefront a much-needed topic to consider: the vitality of our churches’ pastors. He astutely understands that it’s one thing to survive the rigors of pastoral ministry, it’s quite another to thrive. With wisdom and experience compassion and courage, McBurney provides a much-needed antidote to the problems that plague many of our pastoral leaders and their churches. If the statistics are true, too many of our pastors are burning out and leaving the ministry. Moving from the forest to the trees, he provides all the necessary concepts and processes that can help any pastoral leader, along with his leaders, thrive in ministry for the long haul. Every pastor and elder wanting to be faithful in ministry needs to read this book—my students will be reading it!

Rev. Julius J. Kim , PhD., President, The Gospel Coalition Visiting Professor of Practical Theology, Westminster Seminary California, Escondido, California

Many professions are taxing, not just pastoral ministry. But the pastorate has unique stresses that ruling elders do not always recognize as different from the strains they experience in their own careers, or how best to care for their pastor. In this book, Dr. McBurney offers both insight and practical instruction for ruling elders as caretakers of both their pastors and their congregations.

Michael LeFebvre , PhD., Pastor at Christ Church Reformed Presbyterian, Brownsburg, Indiana, Adjunct Professor, Old Testament Studies, Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Fellow with the Center for Pastor Theologians and author

© 2020 Wendell Faris McBurney

Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals 600 Eden Road

Lancaster, PA 17601 AllianceNet.org

The Scripture references used throughout, unless otherwise indicated, are from the Holy Bible English Standard Version (ESV), Classic Reference Edition, copyright 2001, by Crossway Bibles, Wheaton, Illinois.

ISBN: 978-0-9980102-4-3

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the author.

Dedication

To Pastor Kenneth G. Smith, friend and Encourager-in-Chief

to me and many others on matters of elder responsibility,

the vital church and its pastors.

Foreword

"If we pay the minister that much, it won't be a calling any more.

It will be a profession."

That comment, which I heard during a discussion on the minister's salary in a congregational meeting, encapsulates the attitudes of many Christians, namely that professional standards ought not to apply in the church. The comment expresses more than the infamous prayer: Lord, you keep him humble and we'll keep him poor. It reflects the attitude that what applies as good practice in the real or natural world, does not apply in the spiritual world. Careful analysis, good planning, and diligent follow-through are at odds with trusting the Lord.

The tendency to contrast decision-making in the natural world with that in the church is what Dr. Wendell McBurney confronts in this very helpful book. But he moves beyond simply challenging this form of thinking to showing congregations and particularly elders how they can go about good, effective planning, particularly for the personal and professional lives of ministers. And I do not know anyone who could do a better job of writing such a book than Wendell McBurney.

Wendell and I have worked together on several projects related to strategic planning and grant proposals as he volunteered his time to help us here at Westminster Seminary California. I have come to count as a good friend this man of remarkable gifts and experience. He is a life-long Christian, dedicated to Christ and active in many different areas in the life of his church. He had long, effective experience at a major state university. He combines keen analytical skills with a good sense of humor. He is definitely someone to turn to for help in planning for the church. And now he has taken his great experience and insight and turned it into a very readable book to guide the church in facing pressing problems in planning for the future and for the ministry.

As I have observed young men entering the ministry over many years, I have seen their professional and personal struggles to settle into their callings. Elders can and should help their ministers, particularly with personal issues like finances and time management for adequate study, pastoral work, family life, and relaxation. This book will be a great encouragement and resource for this work of the elders.

Once when Wendell was with us at our seminary, I opened a planning session with a meditation that I entitled Strategic Planning: A Reverent Enterprise. (I chose that title because I had already learned a great deal from Wendell!) The meditation was based on Psalm 33:11, The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations.

Psalm 33 celebrates the goodness of the Lord to his people, caring and preserving them according to his steadfast love. At the center of this Psalm—which the Psalmist has clearly planned with great care—stands the declaration of verse 11, that the Lord has accomplished all that he has done according to the plans of his heart. The Lord is a planner.

However theologians might discuss the nature of planning in the heart of the One who is eternal and immutable, we should certainly see here an aspect of God that we as his image-bearers are called to emulate. We must be planners. We of course cannot guarantee that our plans will come to pass. We do not possess infinite wisdom. But we do need to recognize that God models for us the call to plan. We must do all with prayer and trust in the Lord. We must recognize that only with the Lord's blessing will our plans succeed. But the Lord has called us to be active and responsible in the life of his church, using the very best of our minds and abilities to serve him.

The Psalmist observes: The king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength. The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue (verses 16 and 17). The point here is not that kings should not have armies, or that warriors should not be strong, or that horses should not be used in battle. Indeed, we know that David and the kings of Israel had armies, and warriors, and horses. The Psalmist is saying that our ultimate trust and confidence must be in the Lord and not in our resources and strength by themselves. But our faith does not make the careful choice of means irrelevant.

Wendell McBurney, out of his wisdom, broad experience, and strong faith, has given us a most valuable book to lead us in the careful choice of means to serving the Lord through good planning. I am sure that it will be a great blessing to those who will read, ponder, and implement its insights.

W. Robert Godfrey, PhD

Chairman of The Board, Ligonier Ministries

President Emeritus, Westminster Seminary California

What to Expect

Why I have done what I have done

As you read through the pages that follow you will find a variety of topics related to the local congregation and its ministry. At first you might think they are not related, but as you read on you will find all of them tied together by a continuous thread—the need for elders to take seriously their responsibility to provide opportunities for their pastors to develop, use and maintain their skills, remain focused on their ministries and to be strengthened in their personal lives.

The Apostle Paul’s letter to Timothy provided leadership requirements for ministry to the church in Ephesus. He was specific about the qualifications for those aspiring to the office of elder, a responsibility he called a noble task (I Timothy 3:1). I have chosen to draw attention to how today’s elders, while holding to these same standards, must equip their pastors so that they too can be effective leaders just as Paul had charged Timothy. Some of the suggestions I make go well beyond Timothy. They address some of the challenges faced by elders as they endeavor to support their pastors in the contemporary local church.

Although I have been driven by my concerns for the pastors in my own denomination, I have done what I have done for the broader Church. It is my desire that a new awareness among elders will result in action on behalf of the many pastors struggling to achieve a level of recognition and support similar to other professionals in our society.

This project began while I was recuperating from a lingering illness. Unable to engage in my usual activities, I had a lot of time to think. My thoughts turned to how I might use this unwelcomed leisure in a productive way. Every day is a gift not to be wasted. During this time, I was listening to my pastor’s sermon series on the book of Job. I was reminded that adversity has purpose. I soon recognized my enforced rest as an opportunity. It was a gift, a time to reflect on things I have seen, done and learned over the years and how I might use them on behalf of others.

I have watched pastors struggle with overwhelming responsibilities, inefficient use of time, health issues, financial stress, all while their families suffered from neglect. I once helped a pastor drive a U-Haul truck filled with his family’s possessions as he moved many hundreds of miles to a new congregation, essentially an escape from an unhappy pastorate. These experiences and observations have underscored my conviction that there is much to be done that can be helpful to our pastors and to the Church.

A pastor who had spent many days working with the elders of congregations within my denomination shared with me his observation that elders often fail to understand the distinction between means and ends—activities and the results of activities. This echoed my own observations and reinforced my desire to do something that would help resolve what I too had concluded to be an all-too-common problem. So, a concern for the church and its elders, pastors and families, combined with some things I have learned, plus some God-given time on my hands, have all served as a confluence of events leading to this book.

Much has been written about the roles and responsibilities of elders. What I believe is lacking is a discussion of how elders can contribute specifically to the vitality of their pastors, and how deliberate action can have an ultimate positive impact on the vitality of their congregations. This book is a challenge to elders, encouraging them to draw up plans of how they will help their pastors with personal needs, the needs of their families and of their congregations.

There can be resistance to planning within the church. It is time-consuming and requires committed leadership. It is hard to do, especially when done well. One of the most insidious reasons for ignoring local church planning is the belief that it is not a proper activity for the church. God will provide. Actually, God has provided. He has provided the Scriptures that reveal how his own plans have worked for our good. There are numerous examples of planning recorded throughout Scripture. There are reasons for this. We must not ignore them.

Finally, I am concerned that there is an unwillingness by some to recognize the pastor as a professional. I even have heard pastors resist this notion. Yes, it is a calling, but it requires a similar intensity of academic and experiential preparation, vocational commitment and the same necessity for life-long learning as others including, teachers, lawyers, physicians, airline pilots, first responders and architects.

I once attended a seminar during which the question arose, What is a professional? Distinctions were made between some every-day uses of the term professional (e.g., Professional Lawn Care, Professional Car Wash, etc.) and the typically assumed application of this same adjective to the professions. Although all in attendance held advanced degrees, no attempt was made to claim exclusive ownership of the term. No conclusive answer to the question was ever reached. Even some thieves are called professional thieves.

One dictionary definition suggests that a professional is a person who is engaged in a learned profession. Perhaps not much help here. I do not have the final answer but will use as my own operational definition to apply to what I have written, One who has mastered and successfully practices a career responsibility, upholds its ethical standards and has achieved the requisite educational requirements, typically beyond the undergraduate level. I do not propose this as an elitist definition, but one that acknowledges the time that must be invested in learning, and the commitment required of one who engages in a worthy career. I intend this to apply to pastors and to include those pastors who have been graduated by an accredited theological seminary, and thus its applicability to the topics that follow. I address this here only to clarify the philosophical theme found throughout this book. To be clear, I view the pastor as a professional who needs to be respected and treated as a professional, especially by a congregation, its members and its elders.

My goal is a contribution to the vitality of the Church by encouraging its elders to conduct visionary planning for the well-being of their pastors and their congregations. To help me with insights and expertise beyond my own, I have invited two writers to give some perspectives that I otherwise would have been unable to give. They have experienced things that I have not. To them I am indebted and deeply grateful.

Thus, in addressing these topics, I have two objectives:

Elders who act upon their responsibility to provide for the personal and professional well-being of their pastors

Elders who view congregational planning as being consistent with and exemplified by Scripture

The relationship between deliberate planning and a vital pastor deserves careful attention. This is why I have done what I have done.

WfM

Introduction

How to Read What Follows

This is not the kind of book you will read like a novel. It is very un-novel-like; more like a reference book or topical taxonomy. Even though there is an intentional organizational sequence, starting with the pastor, followed by planning in the church and then by how planning can be used to contribute to a vital pastor, the immediate needs of the reader may lead to some topical cherry picking. This is fine, even encouraged. But there is a thematic thread—elder responsibility for the pastor. Do not miss it.

The life of a congregation concerned for its future will usually require direct participation by some of its members in short- and long-range planning. It is likely that all members will be required to approve any final plan that had been developed prior to its implementation. To do this with integrity requires a commitment to the concept and value of planning within the church. I have included a review of Scripture to underscore both the appropriateness and the justification for congregational planning. It draws attention to some very well-known and extraordinary examples of careful planning. Effective planning within a congregation requires knowledgeable participation, especially by its elders.

A congregation’s elders have been given and have accepted responsibility for matters well beyond the more obvious monthly meeting attendance, greeting members at morning worship services and accompanying pastors on occasional hospital visits. Elder responsibility is foundational to the spiritual condition of the congregation. Easily overlooked are some other more subtle yet critical responsibilities. They include such matters as careful attention to immediate and future planning within the local congregation and throughout the broader Church; the need to use great discretion when encouraging members to accept individual planning assignments; recognizing the need for and providing the resources required for the pastor to perform as a professional; and making certain that the pastor, the pastor’s spouse and children are each acknowledged as living unique and often stressful lives. Perhaps a game of tennis or an occasional no-agenda lunch with the pastor should be included in this list. These are a few of the topics I have addressed, each accompanied by some suggestions. There are many more.

I have been very concerned about the need for the Church to exhibit a greater appreciation for pastors who experience the same and often greater, certainly different, stresses on their lives than others outside the ministry who also hold full-time organizational and leadership positions. I acknowledge that in recent years there has been greater attention to this topic, and it has seen good progress. However, this is only a start.

New opportunities are now becoming available for study and travel leaves, relaxation, self-defined sabbatical leaves and other types of opportunities offering pastors much needed personal revitalization and refreshment. Yet, engagement in these experiences very often requires funds beyond the resources of the pastor or even the congregation. As new funds are pursued, pastors are too often left to go about the search by themselves. Obtaining these funds usually requires preparing grant requests, something with which the pastor has most likely had little or no experience. I have included several items that should be helpful toward this end.

My intent has been to provide some help to the local church as it strives to achieve a vitality that can be elusive. A vital pastor is